Kazakh Ruling Party Keeps Tight Grip In 'Uncompetitive' Vote January 11, 2021 11:51 GMT Share share Print ALMATY -- Kazakhstan's ruling Nur Otan party has kept its firm grip on power in parliamentary elections called “uncompetitive” by international observers after the only registered opposition boycotted the vote to protest a lack of development and freedom in the Central Asian nation’s political landscape. The Central Election Commission said on January 11 that preliminary results from the vote a day earlier gave former authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s Nur Otan, the ruling party since 1999, 71.1 percent, while two other parties loyal to it -- Ak Zhol (Bright Path), and the People’s Party (formerly the Communist People’s Party) -- also exceeded the 7 percent threshold needed to win seats in the Mazhilis, or lower house of parliament.